Cops: Man took rent for unit he didn't own

Updated 7:55 pm, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

BRIDGEPORT -- A Stratford man is accused of bilking the son of a retired Greenwich police captain out of $1,750 in a rental scam.

Darryl Harmon, 39, of King Street in Stratford, was charged with fourth-degree larceny after he allegedly offered a Bridgeport apartment for rent on Craigslist that he did not own. Harmon was released after posting a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 10 at state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport police were contacted last summer by a Greenwich detective, who said that the son of a retired captain had been scammed when he tried to rent an apartment on Whittier Street here.

The alleged victim had seen the apartment advertised on the classified ad site and replied through Craigslist, police said. Harmon told the man, who now lives in Norwalk, to meet him at the Bridgeport apartment and to bring a check for the first month's rent with the "pay to" line blank, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Harmon allegedly wrote his own name on the check and cashed it, but when the would-be renter arrived with his belongings, he was told by the building's owner that the apartment was already rented.

The victim and his parents contacted Harmon several times seeking a refund, and though he promised to pay back the money, he never did, the affidavit states. In one call, Harmon allegedly told victim's parents that he was at an Atlantic City casino, and would have their money soon.

When a Bridgeport police detective called Harmon on Aug. 31, more than a month after he allegedly cashed the victim's check, Harmon told the detective that he would bring the money to Bridgeport police headquarters within the next few days. That didn't happen either, police said.

Harmon has larceny convictions from similar incidents in Stratford, the affidavit states. The suspect never denied taking the victim's money, the document states, and repeatedly promised to return it.

A West Haven man reported in March that he was nearly scammed out of $3,000 when he attempted to rent an apartment.

on Walnut Beach in Milford. As in the Bridgeport case, the scammer asked the victim to meet him at the apartment, but the prospective tenant became suspicious and did not hand over the money.

A federal official said the area cases represent a new twist on an old scam. "We've seen this for a number of years, where someone will claim to represent an apartment or house for rent and tries to get a deposit wired to them," said Amy Hebert, a spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. "But we haven't seen it where someone local offers to meet the prospective renter at the property," she said after the Milford incident.